NCAA FB

Upsets show FCS label can be deceiving

The labels on North Dakota State and Eastern Washington say FCS
for Football Championship Subdivision, Division I's second-tier.
The reality is there are 123 programs and the range of quality is
as great as the difference between the best teams in the Football
Bowl Subdivision (aka tier 1) and the worst.

''With all due respect there are plenty of FBS teams that you
can't lump with the Alabamas and the Oregons of the world,''
Eastern Washington coach Beau Baldwin said Sunday. ''The same way
you can't lump all the FCS schools together.''

The FCS has won eight games against FBS opponents during the
opening weekend of college football, twice as many as it did during
last season's opening weekend. The most notable victories were by
two-time defending FCS champion North Dakota State, which beat
Kansas State on Friday night, and perennial FCS playoff team
Eastern Washington, which knocked off No. 25 Oregon State on
Saturday.

North Dakota State coach Craig Bohl said Sunday that maybe it's
time to ''get rid of some lines and start looking at some
programs.''

Make no mistake, the majority of FBS-FCS matchups are glorified
tuneups. In the 30 FBS-FCS matchups this weekend, the average score
was FBS 37.7, FCS 18.3.

While McNeese State (53-21 over South Florida), Towson (33-18
over UConn) and Northern Iowa (28-20 over Iowa State) have made
headlines, Nicholls (66-3 loss to Oregon), Austin Peay (45-0 loss
to Tennessee) and Wofford (69-3 loss to Baylor) provided little
resistance.

The favorites from the bigger conferences pay big bucks to bring
FCS teams to their stadiums because they don't have to worry about
making a return trip.

ESPN.com reported the seven FCS teams that have won on the road
have made a total of $2,375,000, ranging from $225,000 to $450,000
each.

North Dakota State made $350,000, and Eastern Washington
$450,000.

Bohl's Bison in recent years have knocked off Colorado State
from the Mountain West, Minnesota from the Big Ten and Kansas from
the Big 12. NDSU does it with power football. The Bison rallied to
beat K-State 24-21 in Manhattan and it didn't look fluky.

''After watching the game tape, it's not like Kansas State was
playing terrible,'' Bohl said. ''I just think we beat them.''

Eastern Washington, which became the third FCS team to beat a
ranked FBS team, was just as a good in its own way. The Eagles
spread the field with dual-threat quarterback Vernon Adams. Oregon
State, from the Pac-12, just couldn't stop EWU in a 49-46 victory.
As with NDSU, EWU was just better than its FBS opponent.

''We certainly were on that day,'' Baldwin said. ''Maybe only a
play or two better.''

There has been much discussion among the leaders of the top
conferences in FBS about strengthening schedule. They want more
appealing TV matchups and want an extra emphasis on strength of
schedule to determine who plays in the coming College Football
Playoff.

The Big Ten has proposed eliminating games against FCS teams
altogether.

Bohl is part of the board of trustees for the American Football
Coaches Association, headed by Texas' Mack Brown with
representatives from all levels of college football.

He said the 20 member board has voted unanimously to keep
playing cross-divisional games.

''Football needs to be more inclusive instead of exclusive,'
said Bohl, a former Nebraska player and assistant coach. ''Saturday
was an example of that.''

Member Comments

Please note by clicking on "Post comment" you acknowledge that you have read the Terms of Use and the comment you are posting is in compliance with such terms. Be Polite. Inappropriate posts may be removed by the moderator.